Bible Commentaries

Ecclesiastes 4:4-6 — in rest, and `eateth his own flesh,' i.e., he consumes his inheritance."James Waddey, p. 28. Another view of the fool mentioned here is that he represents the envious man. "The envious man is here exhibited in the attitude of the sluggard (Proverbs 6:10)."Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament, op. cit., p. 98. In this understanding of it, the fool's eating his own flesh would mean the same as the common saying that, "He was eating his heart out with envy." "Better is a handful with quietness" Here

Isaiah 10:24-27 — reference to the Messiah here. The alternate reading for "fatness" in the Cross-Reference Bible is "oil,"Cross-Reference Bible, (New York: The Cross-Reference Bible Company, 1910), p. 1230. evidently meaning the anointing oil. "Just as in Isaiah 9:4-6 the breaking of the yoke of the enemies is attributed to Messiah, so it is here."Robert Jamieson, Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary, p. 442. Dummelow also honored this understanding of the place thus: "Because of the anointing, i.e., because

Isaiah 13:6-8 — "This word is used frequently in the Pentateuch; it is not often found in the prophets; and, when it occurs, the severe and awful aspect of God's divine nature is the more prominent."J. R. Dummelow's Commentary, p. 425. "The day of Jehovah" (Isaiah 13:6; Isaiah 13:9) in the Old Testament often refers to the eternal judgment scheduled to come at the end of the Christian dispensation; although, in the prophets, there were predicted many "days of Jehovah," all of them typical of the Day of Judgment and

Isaiah 18:6 — would provide food for ravenous birds throughout the summer, and (4) that there would be so many of them that the food supply would also be sufficient to take all of the wild beasts of the earth through the winter. All of this is right here in Isaiah 18:6! God through Isaiah prophesied every line of this to the ambassadors of Ethiopia in the act of turning down their request for an alliance against Assyria. Could it possibly be that the threatened nation of Judah would have turned down such a source

Isaiah 26:7-10 — in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. Let favor be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness will he deal wrongfully, and will not behold the majesty of Jehovah." Note that Isaiah 26:7-8 are speaking of the same thing, and therefore they are included in the same paragraph here. "It is especially significant in this paragraph that righteousness is learned only when God's judgments are abroad in the earth (Isaiah 26:9 b). When favor

Isaiah 47:8-11 — listed here: (1) her egotistical boasting; (2) her reliance upon the black arts of sorcery and enchantments; (3) her having given herself wholly to lustful, sinful pleasures; (4) her trusting in her wickedness; (5) her over-confident sense of security; (6) her reliance upon her own wisdom and knowledge; and (7) most importantly of all the attitude that is mentioned twice, in Isaiah 47:8; Isaiah 47:10, her self-deification visible in her thoughts that, "I am, and there is none else besides me!" What is

Isaiah 64:8 — "But now, O Jehovah, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand." This is the third time in this prayer (See Isaiah 63:16) that the appeal has been directed to God as the Father of his people. Isaiah did not presume to plead any merit on Israel's part, but appealed only to God's gracious covenant promises. Douglas has pointed out the following correspondences between

Isaiah 8:9-15 — against the whole spirit and tone of that sinful society. If Isaiah would do this, Immanuel would indeed be a sanctuary for the prophet and his followers, but he would also be a "stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense" to both houses of Israel. In Vol. 6 of my New Testament Series (Romans), pp. 337-341, a rather full discussion of "Christ the Stone" will be found. Note that not merely the Northern Israel, but Judah also would find Christ a stumbling block and rock of offence.

Jeremiah 22:18-19 — have no confirmation of this prophecy." None is needed. God said it would happen, and it did. There's not a line to the contrary anywhere in the Bible; and we can see no purpose in noting that when the death of Jehoiachim was mentioned in 2 Kings 24:6 there was no reference to what happened. The passage merely states that, "Jehoiachim slept with his fathers, and his son Jehoiachin reigned in his stead." Nevertheless, the passage bears witness to the fulfillment of this prophecy, because, "The complete

Jeremiah 51:6-10 — amazing. Note the following: (1) Both shall be utterly destroyed (2) God's people are commanded to "come out of her." (3) She has a golden cup in her hand. (4) The nations have become drunk with her wine. (5) Her judgment reaches all the way to heaven. (6) Her doom is like a stone cast into the river (see last paragraph of this chapter). (7) She is responsible for all the slain in the land (Jeremiah 51:49). See Vol. 12 (Revelation) in the New Testament commentaries (Revelation 17-18). "Babylon is suddenly

Lamentations 1:15-19 — probably a reference to the great army of Babylon."Anthony L. Ash, Jeremiah and Lamentations (Abilene, Texas: A.C.U. Press, 1987), p. 342. "Mine eye, mine eye" "This emphatic repetition reminds one of Jeremiah's style elsewhere (Jeremiah 4:10; Jeremiah 6:14)."J. R. Dummelow's Commentary, p. 484. "Jehovah hath commanded concerning Jacob" "Jehovah had commanded that Jacob's enemies should be about him (Isaiah 23:11)."Anchor Bible (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1972), Vol. 7a, p. 75. "I

Lamentations 3:34-39 — mentioned here is to indicate God's disapproval of men's atrocities. "We have here a short catalogue of the oppressions visited upon God's people by their conquerors."Anthony L. Ash, Jeremiah and Lamentations (Abilene, Texas: A.C.U. Press, 1987), p. 356. The word that applies to all of these things is, "The Lord approveth not" (Lamentations 3:36). The fact of God's strong disapproval of the cruel and sadistic actions of Israel conquerors carried with it also a pledge of the ultimate severe punishment

Ezekiel 17:22-24 — interpretations from the same figures in the first part of the chapter. "The `tender one' taken from the topmost twigs is the Messiah of the house of David (Jeremiah 23:5 f; Jeremiah 33:15)."G. R. Beasley-Murray in the New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 673. Other Biblical examples of kingdoms sheltering beasts and birds are in Ezekiel 31:6; Ezekiel 31:12; Daniel 4:12; Daniel 4:21; and Mark 4:32. The promise here revealed that God would indeed honor all of the sacred promises to David, but that he would

Ezekiel 27:12-15 — (Amos 1:9) that these heartless old slave-traders had even sold Israelites to Edom; and also as the confirmation of the fact of the Greeks themselves having been involved in this contemptible "trading in the persons of men," as Joel charged in Joel 3:6. The extent of the Tyrian commercial empire should be noted. From Tarshish on the south coast of Spain to the area eastward from the Black Sea and beyond just about covers the entire Mediterranean world of that era. "The house of Togarmah" "This is

Ezekiel 39:17-20 — Great Supper of God; it is not optional. Those who miss the Lord's Supper will most certainly be present for this one, only they shall not be the ones who eat it; they shall be the piece de resistance! The picture here seems to be "Based upon Isaiah 36:6 and Jeremiah 46:10."Footnote is not available Also, Revelation 19:17-19 has another graphic presentation of this Great Supper of God. Feinberg's opinion that, "These events shall transpire at the end of the great tribulation, and just before the Millennial

Joel 1:3 — hand in all such visitations. For the believer, there are no second causes. The Lord has said, "I Jehovah create peace, and create evil." And he asks the question, "Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?" (Isaiah 45:7; Amos 3:6).H.A. Ironside, Notes on the Minor Prophets (Neptune, New Jersey: Loizeaux Brothers, Inc., 1909), p. 114.

Jonah 4:7 — too, the record plainly refers to a supernatural event, that of God's preparing and commissioning a worm to destroy the gourd which had enjoyed such a short period of growth. This also is one of the "six supportive miracles" mentioned under Jonah 4:6, above. This worm struck effectively against the very source of Jonah's great gladness, which, strangely enough, was not connected in any way with the great repentance of Nineveh, but was derived from a wretched gourd vine which provided him shade!

Habakkuk 2:20 — inspire reverence at religious services and in places of assembly. Much more, however, is inherent in this magnificent passage. The "temple of God" in view here is no mere house of worship. The place of the Lord's residence or "being" is heaven (Isaiah 26:21; Psalms 11:4; Jonah 2:7; Micah 1:2). "God reigns in heaven, and fills heaven."Robert Jamieson, op. cit., p. 830. God's holy temple, therefore, "is not the shrine in Jerusalem, but heaven itself."W. J. Deane, op. cit., p. 28. The dramatic meaning

Zephaniah 2:3 — eternal judgment (Matthew 25), those turned aside into eternal doom were precisely those who were the most cocksure that they were fully entitled to eternal life. Christ also asked, "Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say" (Luke 6:46). As Deane also pointed out, "Even the righteous shall scarcely be saved (1 Peter 4:17-18)."W. J. Deane, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 14, Zephaniah (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 25. Criticism of this prophecy following

Zechariah 2:5 — whether applied to the ancient Israel or the new Israel in Christ. As Leupold also understood it, "Zechariah is speaking of the ideal Jerusalem, the church, and of an ideal dwelling in her, membership in the church of God."H. C. Leupold, op. cit., p. 56. In Zechariah 2:6-13 in the remaining part of the chapter, the teaching is announced by Zechariah "in the name of Jehovah," the intervening transfer of the teaching via the "angel that talked with me" being bypassed. In its totality, the message of